It is time once again to look back on the week in sports. Daniel Collins, host of “Sports Propaganda”, discusses all the events that shaped the week. The USA Basketball team, Gov. James McGreevey, and Deion Sanders are all targets for debate.At Random: A Slanted View on the Week in Sports
In an article entitled “Let the Mann Start” that I penned prior to Friday night’s game, I claimed that Eli Manning should be the starter come week 1 over Veteran Kurt Warner. It case you missed it, the numbers on Eli Manning were less than stellar. Manning went 4-14 for 20 yards; he threw two interceptions and fumbled once. As for Warner, he was 9 for 11, with 105 yards passing. So now all the patrons who emailed me during the week saying that Warner should be the guy are coming out of the woodwork again saying they told me so. They also expect me to backtrack on what I wrote and admit the error of my ways. Well, that’s not going to happen. Let’s everybody settle down and take a step back for a moment. Granted, Manning looked horrific, and the Jets confused him mightily with different schemes and looks on almost every down. However, lets face the facts. The game did not count for anything but game film, outrageous beer and ticket prices, and back page run in the New York tabloids. Eli Manning is a rookie, and he is entitled to have a bad game, you would almost be concerned if he didn’t screw up a few times in the pre-season.
Kurt Warner is a proven signal caller in the National Football League; he proved he could play 4 years ago, but not much since then. Warner has imploded the way Manning did Friday night in several regular season games in his final 2 years in St. Louis. Warner also displayed what got him in trouble with the Rams, he stayed in the pocket too long on a few occasions, and he refuses to throw the ball away. He will do one of three things, get sacked, throw an interception, or fumble the ball. Maybe it’s the fact that I am a stubborn s.o.b., but I am sticking with what I said. This is Manning’s team, not Warner’s. The Giants should consider themselves fortunate that if Manning does go down, that stiff the Bachelor can daydream about being on the Real World 38 from the bench, where he belongs. Manning should be the starter Week 1 in Philadelphia. Let’s not write him off because of one bad pre-season game. Half the players in the league would never have had a career if that were the case.
By the grace of the Almighty, I get to make my final statement about the United States Men’s Basketball squad. Much to my dismay, the scream team managed to show enough pride to show up for their bronze medal game, and surprisingly enough, they came out the victor. The Men defeated the team that previously beat them, Lithuania. I would give them credit for not completely tanking it, and showing the pride they needed all along, but these are professional athletes who can cry to their wallets and mansions instead of to the sports writers and talking heads about how we all wanted them to lose.
Now I always love the opportunity to say I told you so, and there were two things I have said since I started hosting Sports Propaganda. One, I always knew that my wife would leave me for the Mailman, and two, the US Men’s Basketball team would finish no better than 3rd in the Olympics this year. I have the records, and I will prove it if I have to, just not today, I’m too hung over. I fearlessly predicted the Men would do this country proud by bringing home the Bronze. I said it on August 4 in my article titled “The Good Ol’ US of Eyck” you can look it up. All right, enough self-posturing, I know I am great. So what is the bottom line? The argument to send over College players in place of professionals can’t be made, because we would be blown out of the stadium. It has all been said before, this team could not shoot, it played horrific defense, and it was an embarrassing expose’ on the state of the National Basketball Association. George Karl claimed on ESPN, that the NBA should look at these games and consider making some rule changes. He thinks the International game is far superior to the game being played here in the states. I don’t agree with that entirely. I will say that the International teams put together for the Olympics are outstanding, but if you put a rag tag team in there as we did, they would be crushed whether its NBA or International rules. Larry Brown should be blamed for giving up on this team before the games started, the Olympic Basketball Committee should ask their donut suppliers just what they put in the jelly filled treats, and the team themselves should hang their heads in disgust for making a mockery of James Naismith’s pride and joy. I am thankful for two things; the first being that I don’t have to opine about this anymore, and secondly, the term “dream team” will never be used again, after seeing these clowns sleep walk their way to 3rd place.
On to the more positive side of the games, the United States Women’s soccer team took the gold medal by virtue of their victory over Brazil, in overtime, 2-1. So our women’s soccer team captures the gold medal, our women’s beach volleyball team captures the gold medal, our women’s softball team steamrolled their way to the gold medal, and the Women’s Basketball team stood on the top step of the pedestal, Due to time constraints, countless other female participants who have reached the pinnacle of their amateur career while competing in Athens will remain nameless. Meanwhile the Men’s basketball team has been one of the biggest flops in the history of American sports, and our Men’s baseball team didn’t even participate. This portion of the article can be surmised with the simple statement that our women are bitchin’.
Lets move into politics, sort of. New Jersey Governor James McGreevy is back in the news, and its sports related, so don’t expect any lame coming out of the closet jokes or back door humor. The minor league baseball Atlantic City Surf has grabbed news briefs on the Internet and in the lower left hand corner of page c 10 of the sports section after their PA announcer was fired. Why was he fired? Greg Maiuro was given a pink slip after playing the hit tune “YMCA” during a game on August 17th. Seems harmless enough, that song blares over the loud speakers at every sporting event in the country. The problem was, the man behind the microphone dedicated the tune to Gov. McGreevey, in an effort to poke fun at his new found sexual orientation. The team did not find the announcement whimsical, stating that politics and sports should not be mixed.
However, McGreevey stepped in, and urged management to re-hire the man if he apologized for his transgressions. The soon to be Ex-Governor is quoted as saying “I thank the owners of the Atlantic City Surf for their sensitivity and appreciate their desire to separate politics from baseball.” Clearly a classy move from a guy who really was not required to even acknowledge this incident, with obvious bigger fish to fry at the moment. This incident does bring up a discussion of whether politics and sports should intersect? Carlos Delgado made headlines with his decision to sit during the playing of God Bless America, and the Olympics have much more to do with politics than sport at times. In the times we reside in, it’s almost impossible to separate politics from anything. Freedom of speech is usually only free when it’s not controversial; just ask Delgado, the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore or Linda Rondstadt. The best thing to come out of this whole bizarre incident is the fact that McGreevey’s tolerance has given Maiuro his job back, and put a positive spin on a simple moment of bad judgment that easily could have turned extremely ugly. Maybe if all of us could just be a little more tolerant, politicians, athletes, and the entire population would get along so much better, but I guess acting that way would just be gay.
Moving on to College football, the NCAA continued its quest to baffle sports analysts, fans and athletes alike with its decision to ban USC Wide Receiver Mike Williams from returning to the playing field this season. The ruling came down moments before the defending “CO” national champions boarded an airplane to head to Baltimore for their season opener at Virginia Tech on Saturday night. Williams acted rather blaze’ about the decision, quoted as saying “I’m glad it’s over. Now the team can move forward and I can move forward”. The University of Spoiled Children’s head coach, Pete Carroll, was not so apathetic. “It’s very cold and insensitive for them to deny him this opportunity.” he said. He went on to say that the ruling did not come as a surprise, but he is befuddled as to why the powers that be could shoot down the request while the player is academically eligible. This is not the first player to be rejected last week, as University of Colorado Wide Out Jeremy Bloom was also told he need not suit up this season. Granted, both situations are different, but the NCAA dropped the ball, shockingly enough in both instances.
The utter nonsense surrounding College Football has been running more rampant than the West Nile Virus here in Phoenix as of late. Highlighted by their inability to go to a playoff system rather than a bogus, cash cow bull crap series. But with the latest decisions to ban two professional class athletes from competing, questions abound as to what the NCAA is trying to accomplish. Williams would have been a top five pick in the NFL draft had the rug not been pulled out from under him. Bloom accepted endorsement money to ski, not play football, and the money was to insure he could compete, not buy a house, a new car and a stripper. What point does holding these guys out prove? If the NCAA is so trepidacious about looking like professional athletics, then they should stop trying to be so much like them. College Sports is not exactly a not for profit organization. The television networks are paying millions of dollars for the rights to televise games, and the companies who sponsor these games designate a large portion of their budget each year in an attempt to reach spectators should be reason enough. However, the fans that religiously attend games, wait years just to purchase season tickets, and proudly fly the colors of their respective mascot by modeling hats, t-shirts and war paint. They get treated almost as bad as the players that are held out.
Finally, lets recognize Deion Sanders. His personal trainer claims that Sanders is definitely returning the NFL, possibly as soon as Wednesday. Sanders will join one of the best defenses in the league, and will serve as a cornerback in Nickel situations. Its up for debate how effective “Prime Time” will be a few years removed from the game, and he will not be winning any popularity contests any time soon, especially if they are run by Boomer Esiason. However, love him or hate him, if Sanders is triumphant in his return, he must be recognized as the greatest athlete in the history of American Sports. With Super Bowl Titles and World Series experience all part of his extensive resume, there is no doubt that he will go down as the best of all time. And if you don’t believe me, you can ask Neon Deion himself, I’m sure he will be more than happy educate you.
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